Witchcraft in Bermuda
Document Text |
Summary |
| 1651 An assize and general gaol delivery held at St. Georges from the nineteenth day of May to the 22nd days of the same month. Captain Josias Foster Governor, | This document is a summary of a trial conducted from May 19 to May 22, 1651, in St. Georges, Bermuda, by Governor Josias Foster. |
| The jury for our Sovereign lord the King do present Jeane Gardiner, the wife of Raph Gardiner of Hambleton tribe, for that the said Jeane, on or about the 11th day of April 1657, feloniously, deliberately, and maliciously did say that she would cramp Tomasin, a mulatto woman in the same tribe, and used many other threatening words tending to the hurt and injury of the said mulatto woman, and within a while after, by practice and combination with the devil, feloniously did practice on the said mulatto the diabolical craft of witchcraft in so much that the said mulatto was very much tormented, and struck blind and dumb for the space of two hours or thereabouts, | A jury heard evidence that Jeane Gardiner used witchcraft to torture her neighbor, Tomasin. |
| and at divers times in other places did practice the said devilish craft of witchcraft on several persons to the hurt and damage of their bodies and goods contrary to the peace of our Sovereign Lord and King, his crown and dignities. | Other community members also claimed she hurt them with witchcraft. |
| To which indictment she pleaded not guilty, | Jeane pleaded not guilty. |
| but being the grand inquest found a true bill, and for her further trial did put herself upon God. The Country, which being a jury of 12 sworn men, did find her guilty whereupon the sentence of death was pronounced upon her and accordingly she was executed on Monday the 26th day of this instant May at St. Georges before many spectators. | The jury found her guilty, and she was publicly executed on May 26, 1651. |
| The proceeding against this woman was long and tedious by reason of many accusations. The Governor and counsel was very careful in finding out the truth. He caused a jury of women to search her and one Goody Bowen who was suspected. | The governor assigned a group of local women to inspect Jeane for signs of being a witch. |
| They returned as follows: “Having Made diligent search according to our oaths, we cannot find any outward or inward mark so far as we can perceive whereby we can in conscience find them or either of them guilty of witchcraft, only in the mouth of Goody Gardiner there is a blue spot which being pricked did not bleed and the place was insensible, but being pricked close by it it bled, the which we leave to the judgement of physicians.” | The women who inspected Jeane found a suspicious blue spot in her mouth, and recommended a doctor be called in to examine it. |
| Mr. Hooper and the surgeon being appointed to view that spot the day that she was to come to her trial and it was fallen away and flat, and being pricked it bled and it was known to be there 18 years, | The local doctor inspected the spot. |
| and for further trial she was tried and thrown twice into the sea. She did swim like a cork and could not sink. | Jeane was thrown into the ocean twice, and both times she floated. |
| These signs and other strong evidences in Court condemn her yet nevertheless she would confess nothing at her death. | Jeane never confessed to being a witch. |
| She was demanded in Court if she could give a reason why she did not sink. She answered that she did open her mouth and breathed but could not sink. | The court asked Jeane why she did not sink, and she told them she tried to. |
Transcript of Jeane Gardnier Trial of Witchcraft, Bermuda Importation License and Copy of 1651 May 19, 1651. New-York Historical Society Library.
Background
The island of Bermuda, about 800 miles off the coast of North America, was first settled by the English in 1609. Bermuda was a Puritan settlement, which meant that everyone in the colony was expected to follow the same religious practices. The island is only twenty-one square miles, so the settlement’s population of 3,000 people lived very close together. Each community in Bermuda was called a tribe; there were nine tribes, and political and religious tensions in the settlement ran high.
Between 1651 and 1655, ten women and two men were accused of witchcraft in Bermuda. Four women and one man were found guilty and executed. Historians are still debating what prompted this series of witchcraft accusations.
About the Document
This document tells the story of the trial of Jeane Gardiner. Jeane was a widow who was accused of being a witch in Bermuda in 1651.
A second woman, Anne Bowen, was accused at the same time as Jeane. However, Anne was the daughter of an important political figure in the colony and managed to escape unharmed.
Vocabulary
- Bermuda: English island colony off the coast of the Carolinas.
- Puritans: A group of English Protestants who left England for the New World to start their own settlements where religion would govern daily life.
- tribe: Bermuda community.
Discussion Questions
- How did the court determine whether Jeane Gardiner was a witch?
- Witchcraft trials were common throughout the English colonies. What does that reveal about the people who lived there? Why were women the primary targets for these trials?
- Why did Anne Bowen escape her trial unharmed, while Jeane Gardiner was found guilty and executed? What does this reveal about the position of women in the English colonies?
Suggested Activities
- Include this resource in a lesson about witchcraft in the English colonies.
- As a widow, Jeane was particularly vulnerable in English colonial society. Combine this life story with The Last Will and Testament of Joseph Grover and Life Story: Lisbeth Anthonijsen to explore additional stories of widows and orphans in colonial society.
- For a larger lesson on accusations of witchcraft during this time, teach this resource in combination with the following:
- Explore other ways women were targeted in English colonial courts and analyze what these trials reveal about colonial attitudes toward women:
- Jeane was not the only woman in the colonies to stand trial for crimes she disavowed. Compare and contrast her experiences with any of the women in the following resources. Ask students to answer the following questions: why were these women put on trial? What evidence existed of their guilt? What outside circumstances likely influenced the outcome of their trials?
- Invite the students to write a short play that re-enacts the trial of Jeane Gardiner. They should identify key players and motivations based on the historical document of her trial, and then write a script that covers these important points.
Themes
POWER AND POLITICS
